It’s frustrating when you get an error message on your PS4. There you are, ready to start gaming in earnest, clutching your controller and getting excited about whatever game you’re firing up, when you’re slammed with a simple line of text on a blank background telling you that you’re not going to be playing your favourite title any time soon.
Unfortunately, one of the most common errors you might see is “cannot communicate using SSL”, which is a strangely short and uninformative error that doesn’t really tell you much about what’s gone wrong or how you can fix it. Don’t worry; we’re here to help. This “can not communicate using SSL” PS4 error can be frustrating, but with a little patience and perseverance, you can overcome it. Here’s how you can fix this annoying problem!
Link your EA account to your PS4
Many users are reporting that this particular error is occurring when they try to play EA games, with users complaining about the issue after booting up games like Battlefield 2042, It Takes Two, and Madden.
According to some of those users, the best way to fix the “cannot communicate using SSL” error is simply to head over to the official EA website and link your EA credentials to those of your PS4.
You can do this easily by simply signing into the website using your PlayStation details, which you’ll be prompted to do as soon as you access the login website.
Alternatively, you can link your EA account to your PS4 by playing an EA game on your console, then entering your EA account credentials as soon as you’re asked to log in. Doing this should connect the two accounts together.
Restart your router
If the aforementioned route doesn’t work, then you may be experiencing some kind of hardware issue with your router. It’s a good idea to restart it so that you can make sure this isn’t the reason you’re getting the “cannot communicate using SSL” PS4 error.
Different routers require different processes to restart, but you should find a button located somewhere on the router that allows you to restart it. Press that button (or complete your router’s particular restart process), and hopefully, you should be able to access your game without experiencing the error.
Restart your PS4
Naturally, the next course of action if restarting your router doesn’t work is to restart your PS4. You should already know how to do this, but if you don’t, here’s a quick refresher.
You can restart your PS4 using your controller; just press and hold the PlayStation button, then select the “Power” option on the left-hand side of the menu. From there, simply choose “Restart PS4”, and your console will restart.
If you’d rather restart manually, you can press and hold the power button on the front of your console. Do this until your PS4 completely switches itself off, then press the key again. Your console should power back on.
If none of the above processes work, then there’s probably an issue with your PS4’s power cycle. Unfortunately, this likely isn’t an issue you can fix yourself, so you should contact Sony support as soon as you can.
Change your router settings
You might find that you receive this error message because of the way your router is set up. If this is the case, then you’ll probably also find that restarting your router or switching it off and on again won’t work.
The best way to fix this is to log into your router using a web browser and change the settings from the admin panel. Luckily, this is fairly easy to do.
All you need to do is enter your router’s address on the network (which will probably begin with 192.168 and will be visible on a label located somewhere on your router, along with admin login credentials), then log in as an admin.
From there, the setting you’re looking for is called “consistent NAT”. You should be able to find it under the VOIP settings menu, or perhaps under an option marked Advanced or similar.
Again, unfortunately, it’s not really possible to specifically pinpoint where this option will appear, as it might be different for different routers, or, indeed, you might not see it in your specific menu.
If enabling consistent NAT doesn’t work, then some other users have pointed to an option marked SSL Control, which appears on certain routers’ admin panels.
Again, you should find this option within your router’s settings menu, and you should switch the behaviour your router will exhibit from “Block” to “Log”.
This will prevent your router from blocking attempts to access the network by certain devices and will instead cause it to log those attempts, meaning that you should be able to connect without a hitch.
Contact support channels
If nothing above works, then you should probably contact either Sony support or your internet service provider, both of whom may be able to point you in the right direction.
“Cannot communicate using SSL” is, unfortunately, a highly specific and rather technical error, so you’ll probably have to endure support personnel telling you to restart your console or complete some of the other steps outlined above.
Be patient and let them walk you through the process, and when you’re able to demonstrate that the typical solutions don’t work, you should be able to arrange some kind of repair or call-out wherein a professional can assist you with the problem.